Vagnozzi, Granholm Present New Prescription Drug Discount Card
Plan will help seniors and working residents who don’t have health care coverage save up to 20 percent

FARMINGTON – State Representative Aldo Vagnozzi joined Governor Jennifer M. Granholm at a press conference on Sept. 21, 2004 to announce the Governor’s new prescription drug card program.

The Michigan Prescription Drug Discount Card – or MI-RX Card – will allow as many as 200,000 senior citizens and working people with no insurance to cut the cost of their prescription drug bills. Under this new program, all Michigan residents currently without prescription drug coverage can apply for enrollment and receive a program identification card, which members could then use to save as much as 20 percent on prescription drugs at over 40,000 pharmacies nationally, including all major chains and come mail-order pharmacies.

“The Governor and I have fought for years to get prescription drug legislature passed, but we have been stonewalled at every turn by Michigan’s Republican-led legislature,” Rep. Vagnozzi said. “It’s great to have a leader like Governor Granholm, who will act decisively to counteract Republican foot-dragging on this critical issue.”

Reducing health care costs for citizens, employers and health care providers is vital to Michigan’s economic future. For instance, in a Detroit News article about the automotive industry last month, the cost of providing health care to employees was listed as the single greatest threat to the Big Three’s viability. The article went on to say that automakers are pushing for major health care reforms, including lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

Currently, at least 11 counties, including Oakland County, are engaged in some form of a county-wide prescription drug program. The State will continue to work with manufacturers, pharmacists, local government entities and health-care providers to assure that the MI-RX program is compatible with other discount card programs.

“The uninsured people of Farmington and Farmington Hills will reap the benefits from this new discount drug card,” Vagnozzi said. “The cost of prescription drugs has clearly gotten out of hand, but the Governor and I are committed to the health and welfare of this community. Nobody should have to choose whether to spend their hard-earned money on feeding their family or filling a prescription.”